FUNNIEST GAME EVER!

No seriously. My ribs kill from laughing so hard playing this with Justin. Awesome game.

So you lost your trust, and you never should have.

I took the picture of you and me out of my wallet today. It made me sad that I felt I needed to do that, but what's the point of it being the only picture in my wallet if you're not my friend anymore?

There, I said it. It hurts me to say it, but unfortunately it's true. So I'm going to stop trying now. I've learned that some friendships aren't meant to last forever. And some are made to last for eternity. For you and me ... I think it's the former. I wish you understood the heartache you've caused me; the pain I feel from this loss of a relationship. You just don't know. You might not ever know.

And even though that's what it is, I still love you. If you ever suddenly remember the friendship we had and feel like talking to me again, I'm still here. Because really, I am still your friend. I just don't think you realize that anymore.

Amazing? I think not....

Guess what! I finally have another review for you!

So I saw Avatar today. Everyone was saying how amazing it was. I already knew it wasn't going to be, so I didn't have very high expectations, and I was right. After stuffing around with this trainee guy to get our tickets, we got our 3-rows-from-the-front seats and settled in for 2 and a half hours of trees, copters and weird blue zebra-cat-people. I watched a third of the movie with my 3D glasses off; after the novelty of the 'spectacular visual effects' wore off, the first half of the film was relatively boring. It picked up a little bit when the actions scenes got going, but the thin plot really let the film down. It was predictable and pretty pointless (ooh, an alliteration ^_^).

The actors are all right though. Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington are good. Giovanni Ribisi is even better. If only he was in it more.... I love him so much. Michelle Rodriguez is in it too, but unfortunately her role is not as useful as it could have been. I can't really say much about the blue people ... I, er ... have no idea who they are.

Anyway, the movie went on for too long, the plot being spread thinly over 2 and a half hours. Worth a watch on the big screen I guess, but certainly not worth the $17 I paid. And I don't think the 3D was all that necessary. No random visuals jumping out at you, and the film was brighter without them on.

All in all, I give it 3 stars out of 5.

Oh Brother, where art thou?

I've never really liked being the oldest. I've always wished I had older siblings. Particularly an older brother, but I would've liked a sister too. It shows through in my writing. Almost any female character I've written who is around my age has an older brother. Examples:

Evangeline Amores, of my unnamed fantasy novel, aged 15, has a 17-year-old brother named Lawrence.
Jordan Burke, co-protagonist of Veridical, has an older brother named Josh. She also has an older sister, Lyndsey.
Shannon from Fat Beagles are Unattractive has a brother two years older than her called Damien.
Princess Elaine, of the as-yet-unwritten Eloquence, has a brother 20-odd years older than her, who died when she was very little. He features in the story as the narrator.
Jessalyn Vermont, a new character for a supernatural novel has an older brother, Ethan, who gets turned into a werewolf.

Funny that. Or maybe just weird.

This isn't to say I don't love my little brother. I mean look at him. Isn't he the greatest?

Mmm... turkey....

Merry Christmas. I scored good this year. I hope you did too. I got F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby ... wait for it .... in leather. I asked for hardback. I got something even better. Isn't it just gorgeous?

 

Yum. I also got this absolutely splendiferous t-shirt that I didn't think I was going to get. Thanks Mom. It's pretty epic. I love it. I wore it to church today and scared a couple of people. Dan and Dan both thought it was cool though.

WIN. Have a lovely rest of your Christmas. And remember today isn't really about presents, it's about presence. Give praise to God for his gift to us, his son Jesus. We really don't deserve him. :)

REJOICE! FOR TODAY, A KING IS BORN!

Peter, I'm sorry, but I must grow up....

I just had another Peter Pan moment. I was walking down the street not long ago and saw a little boy and girl playing in their backyard. They had a bunch of chairs out forming a circle and they were standing on the chairs with swords in their hands and tea towels tied around their heads. Pirates, of course. I really miss doing that.

Wendy: My unfulfilled ambition is to write a great novel in three parts about my adventures.
Aunt Millicent: What adventures?
Wendy: I've yet to have them, but they will be perfectly thrilling.

I'm convinced that there was point in my life where I was in Neverland. But that feels like a terribly long time ago now. And quite unfortunately, it's a little late to go back.

*hugs*

 I made a fanpage on facebook for hugs from behind. It is unanimous that hugs from behind around the waist are the best hugs in the world. And one of my best friends gives them to me all the time. So that's pretty swell.

I'll be home for Christmas

I just made a mad rush to the metro to get pineapple for dinner. We're having hamburgers and prawns on the BBQ so I needed pineapple to go with it. The metro was insane; I was weaving in and out between crowds of people, trying not to get run over by overloaded trolleys. Got my pineapple and came rushing back out, all in 25 minutes. Top time, I reckon. There was a huge line coming out the liquor store. I thought that was a little funny. :)

Come, let us adore him!

I love hearing talks about Jesus' birth. Mary and Joseph have got to be some of the most righteous, heroic people to have ever lived. I wish a had a time machine to go back to the birth of Christ. That would just be awesome.

I really feel like it's his birthday tomorrow. Because it is. Or at least, it's the day we celebrate it. How cool! I'm glad to be a part of my King's birthday celebration. Tonight is the Christmas eve service at church. Here's part of the true story of Christmas. It creates a shiver of delight down my spine because it's so, so amazing. Like. Wow.

Praise God and celebrate this miracle!

The Birth of Jesus Christ

 ¹⁸This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  ²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[c] because he will save his people from their sins."
 ²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"^[d]—which means, "God with us."
 ²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

I'm late, I'm late, I'm very very late....!

This movie .... wow. It's gonna be awesome. It's gonna be epic in 3D. It's gonna be twisted and dark, and disturbed, and brilliant.... Well. Let's just say it's gonna be one hell of a ride. I can't wait.

Ron, just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have.

Loving Harry Potter fan art. It's the coolest. Here's some more for you, the first being another one of Moony, Padfoot and Prongs because I like those. Most of these are by an artist called De Gerre. Awesome huh?

He shall be called "Immanuel" meaning 'God with us'.

This is one of my favorite Christmas carols. And seeing as it's Christmas Eve, I thought I'd post some of the lyrics for you. I'm actually listening to Michael Buble Christmas music at the moment, but I prefer Jars of Clay. Mom is making pumpkin pie. Yum. I've wrapped all my family's Christmas gifts. Katherine loves the t-shirt I gave her. And yeah. Feels like Christmas. My brother just shoved pastry dough in my mouth. It's a bit gross when it's not cooked.

God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

In Bethlehem, in Israel,
This blessed Babe was born
And laid within a manger
Upon this blessed morn
The which His Mother Mary
Did nothing take in scorn
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

From God our Heavenly Father
A blessed Angel came;
And unto certain Shepherds
Brought tidings of the same:
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by Name.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

Don't underestimate the Force.

Darth Vader being a jerk. Click it and watch.

Why, oh why, oh why?

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

I had this feeling we were going to be really awesome.... And I was right.

17

You know what's a little sad about turning 17 soon? Yes, I'm having another Peter Pan moment.You see, if Harry Potter were real, and had gone to Hogwarts, I'd be in my last year of school. If there was any year I wish I could've been at the school it would've been when Harry was in 3rd year, so I could have Professor Lupin for a teacher. He was the best. Here's a picture of Sirius, James and Remus in 5th year. I love Harry Potter fan art. It's tons better than the film.

It's you that I hold on to. That's what I'll do.

I have nice-smelling friends. Sometimes I wish when I left my friends I could take a little bottle of their scent with me and keep in on a shelf as a keepsake. A lovely memory. I know it sounds weird.

2010!

It's a cool number. It's gonna be a cool year. I'm looking forward to Twenty-Ten. Yes that's how you say it, not Two-thousand-and-ten. That's just silly. It's not like we called 1910 One-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ten. So it's Twenty-ten, ok? Okay. : )

All righty, here's my list of cool things that should be happening to me in Twenty-ten unless God changes my plans. And he has every right to do so. But anyway, the countdown:

1. LiT! It's a Christian camp. The full name being Leaders in Training. I've been twice already and thanks be to God I got invited back again! It's gonna be pretty swell. Here's a pic to show the awesomeness that is LiT. *excitement*

2. I GOT INTO TAFE!!! Huzzah. Doing a digital media course for 6 months. Should be epic. If all goes well in the course it will set me up for the next three years of my life, which makes it all the more epic.

3. Alice and Wonderland. I turn 17 about the time the film comes out, so I'm taking a bunch of my favorite people to see it at IMAX. Woo hoo!

4. I have plans to get more ear-piercings with Katherine. Only our parents are being a little less than enthusiastic about it at the moment. But we'll bring 'em round, won't we hun? Hehehe. The hope is to get them done in the incredibly new future, possibly even before 2010 so that Katherine has enough time to take them out for when she starts school again. We have some convincing to do....

5. I finished NIDA. It all went wonderfully. We couldn't have had a better performance, and all my besties came to support me :) What joy. So yeah, NIDA's over, so that's a bit sad, but now I have the middle of my Sundays back so I get to hang around after church and enjoy people's company. We're going to NBC now which is ... new. But I think I like it. I've only been twice so far. Anyway, with getting back my Sundays comes rejoining the youth group band, and they want me back! I wasn't sure they would, but they do. So I get to play distortion again. Yay!

6. Trip to the USA! 'Nuff said, basically. It's gonna be fun.

Anyway there's more, like KYCK and SOC (praying that they'll be much more fun than this year), and other cool movies like Scott Pilgrim and Iron Man 2, and friends turning 18 and other ages less important (although there's probably a 21st in there somewhere that I'm forgetting about...), and more coolio stuff, but my mom just brought me this brilliant sandwich so I'm signing out to eat it. Ta ta for now.

The Big Bang Theory

It's a cool show. Sunday nights 7:30 on Go! I just watched it. ^_^

Worst. Movie. Ever.

Saw New Moon today with Kristen, Naomi and Justin. I was astounded at how horrendously boring it was. Seriously.... Worst. Movie. Ever. I can't believe I had expectations of it being better than Twilight. I was reduced to staring at Taylor Lautner's abs and biceps (not normally like me) because it was either that or a moody Kristen Stewart playing the selfish cow that is Bella, or Robert Pattinson's stupidly fake golden Edward-eyes and his pale, ugly, glitter-glue face. Yeah it was an EPIC FAIL.

I could continue to rant but it is late and I have been talking about this awful excuse for a film all day. If you'd like to read an entertaining rant/review on New Moon, go to my friend Kristen's blog, which is just below my archives under 'Other Cool Blogs". It's the one titled "Brain Loading, Please Wait".

So I wasted a lot of money, but I still had a good day, cuz it was my first free day after finishing my epically annoying assignment on Rebel Without a Cause. Good film, annoying essay.

So yeah.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Oh! Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow!

I was baptized today, as a public declaration of my faith in Jesus. So I thought I'd share with you my testimony of sorts. Here you go.


I have grown up in a Christian family and known my heavenly father my whole life. It is wonderful to think that I have been growing in Christ since I was very young and I can only continue to grow in him and let him strengthen my faith as I get older, because we can never know or fathom all there is to our great God.

For me, baptism is an outward sign of an inward reality. It symbolizes being reborn from what I was into a new creation under Christ. As a Christian, I want the world to know who I am and what I stand for, so I stand here now to say that my faith is my own and I belong only to Christ.

God calls us to take up our cross and follow him on the hard road to heaven. We are called to deny ourselves; something that does not come naturally to us. But I am guided by Christ and know that I truly do belong with him. Philippians 3:18-21 says: “Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ … their mind is on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

As Christians we belong somewhere else; we belong with Jesus, and nothing on this earth can bring us the satisfaction our heavenly father can, so we wait eagerly for his return. We Christians are in this imperfect world that causes sin so that we can tell of the perfect grace God offers and share the salvation of Jesus. This salvation is the greatest gift I have ever received, and I want others to know of this gift. I have been nurtured in my craving of pure spiritual milk, as 1 Peter 2:2 says, and as I continue to grow in Christ I want to be strengthened as a servant of Jesus, and encourage you in your walk with Christ, whether you are on the journey already or haven’t yet begun. I want to thank you for sharing this joyful day with me; and will celebrate my salvation in Jesus until the day he calls me home.

I do believe in fairies....

The Junior and Intermediates' performances of Snow White and Peter Pan were on last night. Fun. I was controlling the sound with Jayden. It was pretty swell. Much less stressful than previous years. So I have for you the Top 3 Cutest Moments of the Night, to fill you in on the adorable-ness of the kids who are aged about 6-12.

Top 3 Cutest Moments:

3. Otis, the sweetest little kid ever, playing one of the dwarves called Sour-Puss. Earning him No. 3 on my list is the line "What's it to ya?" which he says with his arms crossed and a 'glare' directed at the audience. I love him.

2. Second was when I walked into the girl's changerooms to use the bathroom, which smelled incredibly heavily of hairspray. I came in to find a group of girls teaching Taylor, who played Tinkerbell, how to perfect her fairy twirl. So sweet! I love Tinkerbell ^_^

1. Topping my very short list was the ending of Peter Pan. Anna, who played Wendy, comes onto the stage one last time to say out to the audience, 'goodnight Peter'. As she exits, Peter, played by Davis, tiptoes back on stage and whispers, 'goodnight Wendy' before blowing her a kiss as the lights fade. It was so perfect, the whole audience 'awwww'ed. I'm getting a shiver across my arms as I type - it was just so beautiful! What lovely young actors they are.

So there you go. I had a good night. Now I'm off to read Peter Pan.

Can I be your bridesmaid??

At the formal Keira said when she gets married she wants her and her husband and the bridal party to learn a dance from like the Victorian era and do it as the introductory dance, or whatever you call it, on her wedding day. I think that would be awesome. I hope I come up with an awesome idea like that. I don't really spend much time daydreaming about my wedding day....

But I did think of this song, which I love, called "I'm Gonna Be". I hope I meet a guy like the one singing this. I just think it's the cutest song ever. Here's some of the lyrics from the Steven Curtis Chapman version. How sweet is it! And it's really catchy too. ♥

When I wake up yeah I know I'm gonna be

I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you

When I go out yeah I know I'm gonna be

I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you

When I'm lonely well I know I'm gonna be

I'm gonna be the man whose lonely without you

When I'm dreaming well I know I'm gonna dream

I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you

But I would walk 500 miles

And I would walk 500 more

Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles

To fall down at your door

When I'm dreaming well I know I'm gonna dream

Dream about the time when I'm with you

And when I wake up yeah I know I'm gonna be

I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you

And when I go out well I know I'm gonna be

I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you

When I come home yes I know I'm gonna be

I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you

I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you

But I would walk 500 miles

And I would walk 500 more

Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles

To fall down at your door

Awwww! ♥ ♥ ♥

I'm nothing on my own, so you don't have to be alone.

I haven't written on this blog in nearly two weeks. Well, here I am again, with a few things to say....

1. I love my friends. You guys mean so much more to me than you could ever know.

2. I love my brother. You are the cheese to my macaroni, or in your words of Popo and Nana, you are the blubber to my seal meat! You are the most wonderful person, and so very very loved. I wish I had your amazing creativity and your gift with small children. I'll love you forever, little brother who is now bigger than me. :)

3. I love my parents. Thank you for everything you've ever given me and everything you will give me. I wish I gave as much in return.

4. The title of this blog is taken from "A Message" by Coldplay.

5. I'm in a lovey mood. As you can see. Sorry. Maybe I'll write something a little more interesting later.... But for now, I'll leave you with this bible verse and this picture that I love:

"We love because he first loved us." - 1 John 4:19.

Saturday....

Took Juliette to basketball today. She's seven years old. I forgot how many questions seven-year-olds ask: What bus are we taking home? How do we get to the bus? How long is the bus trip? What's your favorite kind of chocolate? When does the bus come? What's that? How long til we get home? Where are we now? What does that say? Did you see that? Why's that sign there? Do we get off at the next stop? What's your favorite colour? Is this our stop? Do we have to walk down that street to get home now?

And so on, and so forth... It was a long morning. But good. And I made money, so then I got to go dress shopping with one of my most favorite people in the world! =D Though I probably drove her crazy trying to find a dress for my formal. I'm terrible at clothes shopping. I don't know what I want, I just know what I don't want.... Sorry Katie! It's okay. We found a dress, finally ... its blue! I like it.

Came home through Newtown ... on Halloween. So weird! We saw a horse-drawn carriage with steampunk-style goths riding it for a funeral. Kinda cool. Also a guy dressed in ragged clothes with fake blood all over his face, staggering down the street like a zombie ... I worked out that I don't really want to be in Newtown when it gets dark. That's when the vampires come out....

Got back and played Raving Rabbids with Katherine, Jono, Dan and Justin. SO MUCH FUN!! They stayed for dinner and we got slurpies after. Now watching Terminator 2 with Katherine and Justin. I love you guys.

Oh, and NaNoWriMo starts in 2 hours!!!!!!!!! Can't wait. ^_^

The clock is ticking...

NaNoWriMo starts at midnight!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!! ^_^

Tomorrow always seems better than today...

Nothing much happened today ... and yet, a lot of things did.

I completed my TAFE application, finished all my current photoshop pictures, including the biggest project of my youth group, iPod ad style, I went to the library and saw a sign that said "NO LOITERING. Library Staff and Police on patrol in this area" and had this funny image in my head of a timid librarian patrolling a dark corridor with a flashlight; I went to Officeworks and got all my pictures printed it off, saw Gaylene at Officeworks, and while waiting for my pictures to print had a texting convo with Katherine about formal dresses. And now she's taking me dress shopping on Saturday! =D So excited.

Yeah, very much looking forward to tomorrow and Saturday. The pool and Youthsurge tomorrow. Formal dress shopping and sleepover on Saturday. Huzzah!

Sorry, that was kind of a boring post. But I just felt like writing it. After I do all this fun stuff there should be more exciting posts to write.

♥ eternity makes it possible to love someone forever ♥

For the people in my life with whom I cannot wait to spend eternity, and am constantly grateful for:

"It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them." - Agatha Christie

"If I had a rose for every time I thought of you, I'd be picking roses for a lifetime." - Swedish Proverb

"If I never met you, I wouldn't like you. If I didn't like you, I wouldn't love you. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't miss you if you ever went away. But I did, I do, and I if will."

"If you have to think about whether you love someone or not then the answer is no. When you love someone you just know."

"Love is missing someone whenever you're apart, but somehow feeling warm inside because you're close in heart."

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. - I Corinthians 13:4-8

"I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each others dreams, we can be together all the time." - Hobbes, from Calvin and Hobbes

I made it myself.

I just want things to go faster....

Okay, so I told you about the texts I've been getting in the morning from one of my friends ... only sometimes I miss them. Well, I thought I'd be clever and leave my phone on loud overnight in case she texted me this morning, considering that I had to get up quite early anyway to take a friend's child to basketball, so I could use her text as an alarm. Turns out this was a stupid idea, because the only text I received (at about 7am) was from the mother of the child saying that her daughter was sick and therefore my services were not required until next week. Yay.
Now that I think about it ... it's quite obvious that my friend was not going to message me this morning. It is a Saturday. We are both teenagers. We like to stay up late on Friday nights. So anyway, this post is accompanied by the title and this picture because I'm currently being very impatient. I didn't get my sleep-in which just means more hours I have to endure until 5pm Sunday, which is youth group, which I am very excited about. And above all I just wish Jesus would come back right away.

My writing space!

I promised myself I would ACTUALLY USE my writing space during the month of November for NaNo. It's really is a cool writing space ... I'm just too lazy and like to lay on the couch instead....
So, to make myself more eager to use this coolio space, I'm putting some pictures up. Here you go:

Now, I'm hoping you can see the numbers in the picture that I have added for your convenience. Only problem is, if you can't see them then they're obviously not convenient. Hmm. Well, I'm gonna go along like you can see them, sooo.....

1. Is the stack of manila folders I keep in a folder-holder (hehe). Handy for dividing all my printed-off material into organized piles.

2. Is the chair that I do not like. Probably part of the reason I don't like to use this space very much. When I am a rich and famous author (unlikely, but hey) I'm going to by a wonderful leather chair on wheels that's so comfy I'll want to eat dinner up in my study, which my husband will not like (yes in my fantasy of being a rich and famous author I am also married - and I would like to think at least that part is likely).

3. Is my little notebook laptop. His name is Trent. He's a bit small and a bit slow but don't pick on him ... he's not a Mac but he tries his best! Go Trent.

4. Is quite obviously, a Ghostbusters poster. I acquired it from an Empire magazine. Thank you Kristen, for introducing me to Empire.

5. Is the bulletin board. Pics of all my incredibly awesome friends. Take special note of the Scott Pilgrim drawing and the green badge next to the US dollar bill. It says "Vote for Katherine".

6. Is the white-board. Currently (meaning, in the photo) it says "PRACTICE LINES!!" "NaNoWriMo Prep" and "Costume Design" which I have done.

7. Is a pile of uni work crammed into a holder so it looks neat. trust me it is not. I can't find anything.

8. Is the stack of pencil cases and notebooks. Writing notebooks, drawing books, and my NIDA folder.


So yeah, that's my writing space. Next to it, is this shelf:

Which contains all my writing books an a few of my favorite books and plays. Though unfortunately,  I was an idiot and did not make sure that the shelf held all its contents before taking the picture. So missing from the photo are my beloved book "45 Master Characters" and a dictionary of idioms given to me by my parents. :)

So yeah. Cool.

A pig with whiskers.

Hi again. This is my cat. His name is Hektor.
But my brother secretly thinks he is a pig with whiskers.
He is incredibly fat and no one knows how that happened....

Here is his gorgeously handsome face that you cannot help but love...... 

And here is his not-so-gorgeous face....

Yes, he may be fat ... but that just means there's more of him to love ^_^

STAND!

Oh, stand! (Stand up, stand up)

For what you believe in, believe in,

Believe in God (He's the one to back you up)

We'll stand with you!

Oh, stand up (Stand up, stand up)

For what you believe in, believe in,

Believe in God (He's the one to back you up)

We'll stand with you!

He'll stand with you, oh yeah.

 

So true. Gotta Love Veggie-Tales!

more of buscar....

Well, apparently my little "buscar" box really thinks he is a bus-car, or something, because he has decided to move himself below the actual search box. I don't know if you can see his new position on your computer, but I can ... and it's a little annoying. Stay where you are!!

I've been getting 'good morning' texts from a friend of mine for the past week now - she's so wonderful. It's lovely to find a little message on my phone wishing me a good day when I wake up every morning! Only this morning I wasn't awake to hear my phone beep. Sorry...

I wish you knew....

"We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."

- 1 John 4:19-21

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." - Matthew 5:44

Steampunk! For the Sims 3....

So, the Sims 3 got steampunk. And I HAD to get some stuff for my sims. I made a sim of my main character, Christian Rheese, for my up-and-coming-in-November steampunk/dark fantasy detective novel.

I'm kind of torn between thinking that this is WICKED-AWESOME and thinking that this kind of sucks. Here I was for a little while, thinking I was ahead of the market, going to write a steampunk novel that was really cool and actually have a chance of getting published. Turns out on NaNo there are A LOT of people writing steampunk.

Oh well. I'm writing it anyway, of course. Nothing will stop me! Guess it's just a bonus that I can make a sim of Christian now. ^_^

When stuff gets destroyed it hurts.

Like, a lot.

So this is my friend Jay and his coolio guitar. Which got destroyed on Wednesday because someone quite obviously stepped on it or smashed it without his knowledge and did not tell him. The head of the guitar is snapped off.

And this is a picture of a broken guitar that I got off his blog, which you can check out here. It's not ACTUALLY his ... at least, I don't think so. But either way that's just devestating to look at, if you're a guitar player like me or Jay. It hurts to think about it.

But yeah stuff getting destroyed just sucks. And it doesn't just have to be an object, like a guitar. If it gets destroyed, it sucks. And it hurts. Big time. But as Christians we forgive those who cause destruction. So everything's gonna be okay.

Luke 15:7

Do you know ... right now, the heavens are rejoicing because less than a second ago someone, somewhere, just became a christian. The angels are partying. Isn't that like the coolest thing ever?

So you, reading this ... I don't know who you are. Maybe I actually DO know you in real life. But whether or not I do, I hope we meet in heaven. Because that would be awesome.

Buscar?

I have a phone! And I've made literally 100 texts in the last four days or so. I love my friends.

Okay anyway, so I just changed my blog template, right? I love this new one. Only thing is, it was originally in Spanish, so I changed everything back to English so I could, you know ... read it. Problem is I have no control, apparently, over changing the search-box in the top right corner. So it says, "buscar". I googled that. For the exact meaning. It means, literally, in Spanish, "to seek". Which makes sense. But it does look a bit weird. So I'm just letting you know that I do not speak Spanish, maybe you do, I don't know, but either way that box is going to stay the way it is unless I discover a way to make it say "search", or possibly something cooler. So yeah that's all about that box.

Anyway.
This is, officially, the 7th post of October. Making October the month in which I have had the most posts. Yay! How exciting. I do have so much to say, and there is so much more I would like to say, but a lot of things people would like to say shouldn't go on the internet. For that I will stay partially silent. Meanwhile, enjoy the rest of what is posted on my blog. You might not understand it all. I don't think I understand all of what I write.

A list of things to tell you, concerning television shows and books:

1. Firefly is cool even though it was cancelled. Watch it anyway.

2. Is a plug for the book "Every Young Woman's Battle". If you a a girl between the ages of 13 and 22 or so, or you are a mother of a daughter of that age, I recommend reading it. It actually changed my life.

3. I am reading a book called "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer. A friend reccommended it to me. I have only read about the first ten pages or so but I like it so much that I changed my blog title in honor of the 9-year-old protagonist, Oskar. So thanks, Oskar.

4. The bible is the best book in the world. And I'm not just plugging it because I"m a Christian. It is, seriously, a good book.

5. Ever watched Wipeout? In need of a laugh? Quick. Youtube it. Or something. It's on Go! at about 7 pm on Sundays or something, I think. Google that too. My information may be inaccurate.

6. I have to go now and do uni work. I have to read "Film Art: An Introduction" which is far more than an introduction, let me tell you.

7 - which I just thought I'd cram in as I was leaving - Go read Scott Pilgrim!

10 days and I'll be writing!

NaNoWriMo begins at midnight, November 1st. There's still time to sign up! Do it. There's a link for their page if you scroll down a bit and look to the left where it says "wicked-awesome links" or something like that.

My plot is all mapped out. I have all the characters. The setting. The mystery. I have a narrator now, too. Double points for me. ^_^

I nearly signed this post as "see you in November" in hopes that you would sign up for NaNoWriMo, but since I will be writing all-November-long, I probably won't see you.

♥

I hate to see them do you wrong
When you love the way you do

God I ♥ you.

Rejoice!

We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Romans 5:3-5

No one can knock you down when you stand with Christ.

Psalm 15

A psalm of David.

¹ LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?

² He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart

³ and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman,

⁴ who despises a vile man
but honors those who fear the LORD,
who keeps his oath
even when it hurts,

⁵ who lends his money without usury
and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be shaken.

A thirst for satisfaction.

It's a Friday evening. Your friend has just invited you to this really cool party that EVERYONE is going to tonight and it's been 3 years since you didn't go out on a Friday night because staying home is just waste of the start of your weekend. The weekend is what life is all about. Screw work and school and whatever, you wanna party!
So this party ... it's awesome. Or maybe it's not that great. But whatever, you're there to have fun so you drink yourself silly and dance the night away with a group of your friends ... you meant to be home at 2 but I guess those hours just slipped away....
At 7 in the morning maybe you made it home and are now lying on top your bed with half the clothes you wore to the party still on. You're good and tired and that hangover is really starting to get to you now so you try to sleep it off.
Awake again at 11:00, you kinda wasted what could've been a great morning shopping or seeing a movie or something, and that hangover is still clinging on....
You get a text from your friend saying there's an awesome party on in the city tonight and you totally have to be there. It's going to be sweet as.

Is this you? Maybe you know someone who does this. Lives for the weekend. Parties all night. But is it worth it? Was that party as great as it could have been? Are you going to parties and entertaining yourself with other high-adrenalined activities in an attempt to quench the overwhelming thirst to be satisfied with life?

Perhaps you're looking in the wrong place. Have you ever wondered why you can't seem to find simplistic happiness anymore? That ipod you just got - there's a newer version now and it holds 20 gigs more than the one you have and you've already run out of room. Your best friend just bought a car that runs faster than yours. The shoes you bought last month are already out of fashion.

The world seeks adrenaline and excitement. These days, it's hard to find things that make you really happy. Nothing lasts. Your sensations have been heightened by the pleasure you seek and numb you to the things you could find true satisfaction in.

All pleasure must be bought at a price. For true pleasure the price is paid before it is enjoyed. For false pleasure the price is paid after it is enjoyed. Remember that party you went to? It was great fun at the time, but now you've got a hangover.... Is this really true pleasure? Is what you experience at the party really worth hanging on to? You're seeking happiness in a place that will bring only fleeting pleasure - the few hours at the party. The couple of days that make up your weekend.

So, if you're read this, maybe now you're wondering where you can find true pleasure. This answer is simple - nothing in this world can bring you pleasure.

But hear this - Jesus CAN bring you eternal pleasure! He will quench your thirst for satisfaction.

Wait, wait - you're thinking. Jesus? But Christianity is restricting - I can't do the things I want to do! Christianity is like a straitjacket. I can't live a full life under Jesus.

But you can! John 10:10 says: "I have come so that they may have LIFE and have it to the FULL." Jesus is here so that you can live your life to its fullest.

God is not against pleasure. When He created the world, He made it to be pleasing to us. Read Genesis 2:9: "And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food."

See that? God made fruit to please us! And that's just one thing of many that He created for our pleasure.

We gain purpose in a relationship with Jesus. John 10: 1-21 says that Jesus is like a shepherd, and we are his sheep. He knows his sheep well and they know him by his voice. The shepherd would lay down his life for his sheep because he cares so deeply for them. The sheep know his voice and will listen to it, but will scatter when they are called by a stranger.

This is how we are like in the world. Jesus is there for us to guide us and give us a full life, safe with him and satisfied to the full. He laid down His life for us on the cross so that we might be saved. When the devil calls us to seek pleasure and satisfaction in other places, we scatter and are lost from Jesus.

But as his sheep we know His voice when he calls us back. Listen for Him. He is waiting for you. He is here so that we may live life to the full.

Think about the ways in which you seek pleasure. Do they bring you eternal satisfaction? No. Nothing on this earth can. And when we continue to seek for pleasure on this earth, our sensations are heightened so that it becomes harder and harder to find things here that please us. But Jesus can and will bring you satisfaction if you look to Him. He offers us more than this world ever can - eternal life and satisfaction. There is only one way to eternal satisfaction, and that is through Jesus, and if we find satisfaction in Jesus, we will also find satisfaction and simplistic happiness on this earth, knowing that one day He will return to bring us the gift of eternal life as he has promised. But the only way to receive the gift is to listen and believe this good news. Find Jesus, find satisfaction!

The blog to start blogging again

Hello! I haven't been here for a while. But that's ok, because I'm going to start blogging again now! I need a topic of interest to start upon ... oh! NaNoWriMo! National Novel Writing Month! Look it up. If you are a writer, or want to be a writer (like me) then NaNoWriMo just might be for you. My novel planning is pretty much complete and I'm waiting anxiously for November to come. November is THE MONTH for NaNo. So look it up while you still have time! Here's a picture for you to get you even more interested....

The Young Victoria

Another review! Finally.

Just got back from seeing the film "The Young Victoria". If I had to give one word to describe it, it would be Beautiful. Because it was. Emily Blunt is stunning in every single dress, and a fabulous actress. I've always liked her and have been dying to see her play a lead role and this was perfect. I loved every minute of it. Rupert Friend as Prince Albert is wonderful and the two work amazingly together. I wanted to see the film a second time right away ... just fastforwarding to the part where Victoria and Albert marry. But really, the whole film is gorgeous. The cinematograpahy is great; there are some fabulous shots in the grounds of Buckingham palace and some neat camera tricks in the indoor shots, such as at the ball. I will definetly be on the lookout for more films by Jean-Marc Vallee in the future. My one moment of disappointment when watching the film was that they didn't show Victoria's wedding dress in a wide shot, you only really got to see the top half. A bit of a waste of such an awesome costume, if you ask me. Oh - and I want her dressing gown.

So yeah, 4.5/5 is my rating. Go see it. By far the best costume-drama I have seen in a very long time.

...this used to be a funhouse...

Beth, Justin and I took 127 photos on the Mac last night. Oh so sexy.

I say a lot of stuff, dude.

I'm listening to P!nk's latest album. I like it. My favorite songs being Sober and Funhouse, as of yet. I'm only halfway through it.

Well, tomorrow I get the house to myself all day, so that will be a nice change. Plan on writing the day away with perhaps a movie or two in between and plenty of food. And quiet. I like quiet.

Yeah, not much to say, only on the drama side of things we got our scripts for regular drama, two words to sum up the script would be fun and pointlessness. And I've been madly searching for a script for us to perform at NIDA but with a group that has 8 girls and 1 guy it's a bit difficult. So far the best I've found is "The Children's Hour" by Lillian Hellman, but it's a bit boring. I wish Shakespeare had written a play with 8 female roles and 1 male.

On the subject of Shakespeare I've also chosen to do a Lady Macbeth monologue for NIDA, and I am deeply in love with the piece. I must've read it about a dozen times already, pouring over the beauty and elegance that is Shakespeare's writing.

Oh, that reminds me. I don't know why it reminds me, the two subjects are not really related but anyway - that reminds me, Scott Pilgrim!! I love Scott! They're making a movie of it. If you haven't read this epic 6-part graphic novel, go find it and read it, it's awesome. Not beauty and elegance mind you, just random and hilarious pointless story of jobless Scott and his journey to fight seven evil ex-boyfriends so he can win over Ramona Flowers, the mysterious girl of his dreams. It's cool! So read it.

Anyway. I'm hungry. So I'm off to find food. I'll leave you random snippet from Scott Pilgrim book 5 so you'll want to read the series. Bye. :)

Wonder - Lisa Mitchell

Get this album.

'Tis awesome. But maybe I'm biased because I voted for her three years ago on Idol ... I don't know.

Anyway, it really is great! Love the guitar. Like I said when I saw her live ... I want her guitar....

I'd say more but I'm too distracted listening to it.

So, maybe that speaks for itself. :)

Oh, the tension, oh, the suspense!

I'm dying!

I just finished watching Season 7 of the X Files and it was the biggest cliffhanger ever.

That was three days ago and I want to know what happens next! But alas, my family has not had time enough where all four of us can sit down together to watch the next installment. So I shall wait as patiently as an obsessed fan can manage.

Meanwhile, I shall post this lovely picture of Fox and Dana to make myself feel better. It's from the last episode of season 7 called "Requiem". Scully is unwell and has the chills and Mulder keeps her warm. He's so sweet.

heat and screens and creeds

Hey there. Before I begin, just thought I'd mention, for anyone who may be following these episodes of my life and wondering how my Commedia Dell Arte and NIDA performances went, they were sweet as could be. Yeah, just thought I'd say that because it's a new school term now and we're moving on to other things, one of those things being screen acting.

Screen acting is hard. Like I knew it was hard, but it's so much harder than I'd even thought. We filmed ourselves at NIDA on Sunday, and it was pretty weird, embarassing, difficult, you name it ... we practiced a scene from a movie called Heat about these two characters that are beginning to fall in love - it's cute and deep in one. Sweet.

But yeah, you'd like think you were doing it right, feeling natural, totally "in the moment", and then you'd play it back and realize how crap you actually were. At least, by the feedback I received, I wasn't forced or fake, but I wasn't really totally natural either.

It was interesting to see what made you act natural though. For instance, when I was given something to hold like a waterbottle or a pen I loosened up; and my partner for the scene was really intense when she did the first take, so just when the camera started rolling for take two I made her crack up, so along comes "action" and voila, we have a natural smile. Now, if only we can figure out how to get rid of everyone's random habitual movements like head bobbing or squinting or lip biting..... Or for me, putting my tongue in my cheek when I'm thinking. I didn't know I did that, did you?

Well, there's always next week to get better. In fact, the whole term! I feel nervous just thinking about it. Let's hope it gets easier.....

Oh, and SALT started back up! Baz taught us about the Apostle's creed, proud to say I've been there done that, but I learned some new things too, so that's cool.

Yeah. Will write more later.

"Mulder, you've seen this movie 42 times? Doesn't that make you sad? It makes me sad..."

Why doesn't Scully ever LAUGH?!?

I'm in a weird mood ... I'm lying in bed because I'm sick, so I was watching videos on Youtube and some of them were X-Files bloopers, and then because I was laughing so hard I thought I'd post one of the videos on here. This in particular cracked me up. Gotta love Gillian Anderson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE66WclmAiQ

Ha ha ha, I love it!

Falling Slowly by The Frames

This is like, the most beautiful song ever. Played for the loveliest dance. It's my favorite song, which is why I'm sharing it with you. Jonathan and Karla from So You Think You can Dance are just bonus. ^_^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehi0azzFjZ0&feature=PlayList&p=FEB8164AEBC3A060&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=32

Guy Berryman ... Coldplay's bassist. He's gorgeous. I love him.